Double coupon reference cell and methods of making same

ABSTRACT

A cathodic protection device enclosing a reference cell and a conductive media and having two coupon assemblies mounted, facing opposing direction, on an exterior surface thereof is disclosed. The coupon assemblies each have a disc-shaped coupon seated in a jacket and are electrically coupled to a wire. The jacket is generally patch-sized and defines a pocket in a first surface and a groove in a second, opposing surface thereof. The disc-shaped coupon is seated in the pocket and the wire is seated in the groove with the electrical junction therebetween aligned with an aperture connecting the pocket to the groove. A sealing material is used to form a watertight seal between the disc-shaped coupon and the pocket and fills the groove. The device includes a hydrophilic porous member having a first surface in communication with the conductive media and a second surface in communication with an external environment.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No.14/331,851, filed Jul. 15, 2014, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/847,999, filed Jul. 18, 2013, the entirecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a cathodic protection device thatallows for corrosion testing of a system, more particularly, to such adevice having dual coupon references to provide accurate measurement ofthe corrosive nature of a particular environment.

BACKGROUND

Cathodic protection systems are generally in use for corrosionprotection of metal structures. Many current cathodic protection devicesemploy the use of corrosion coupons in order to measure conditions of aparticular system, more specifically the corrosivity of tanks andvarious types of operating equipment. However, these devices are subjectto a number of drawbacks, many of which affect the most importantobjective of the device: providing an accurate measurement of thecorrosive nature of a particular environment with respect to a specifictype of material.

Various factors relating to both corrosion coupons and cathodicprotection devices are relevant in measuring the corrosive nature of aparticular environment. With regards to coupons, it is necessary thatthey are placed in a representative location within the system beingmonitored such that the location is representative in temperature,pressure, water chemistry, chemical additions, bacterial populations,and solids loading. It is also important that the coupon be electricallyisolated from both the cathodic protection device and the system to bemonitored in order to prevent galvanic effects that could potentiallyinfluence the coupon reading.

The necessary calculation that leads to the measurement of the corrosionrate is based upon the surface area of the coupon. Currently, many ofthe corrosion coupons in use are in the form of rings, as disclosed inU.S. Pat. No. 4,208,264 (Polak), and thus result in poor surface areafor control of the calculation leading to the measurement of corrosion.Therefore, it is advantageous to provide a coupon with adequate exposureof surface area for control of this specific calculation.

In order to expose the coupon to the particular environment measured, itis necessary for coupon placement to be on the outside of the housingunit, which contains the reference cell. Means of placing or mountingthe coupons on the housing unit have generally included the use ofmetallic nuts and/or bolts as fasteners, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.4,928,760 (Freitas). In addition to using nuts and bolts for fasteningthe coupons to the device, nuts and bolts are also used in fasteningwiring and leads to the coupons. Issues arise, however, when themetallic nuts and bolts begin to corrode themselves. Not only is thelife of the device decreased, but the corrosion of the nuts and/or boltsbegins to interfere with the readings taken by the coupon to calculatethe corrosion measurements. Therefore, alternative means to fastenvarious components of the device are desirable.

Further, the reference cell housing portion of many prior art devicesconsists of a porous ceramic vessel, an example of which is disclosed inU.S. Pat. No. 4,208,264 (Polak). The porous nature of the ceramicvessel, accompanied with exposure to the outside environment, allows forwater from the outside environment to flow through the vessel and intothe housing unit. It also allows for penetration of conductive materialcontained within the housing unit, thus resulting in loss of conductivematerial to the outside environment. Leakage into the vessel alsoresults when the coupons are not properly sealed within the couponjacket. Existing methods of sealing the coupon within its housingcomponent result in gaps around the outside of the coupon, thus allowingfor water from the outside environment to enter causing furthercorrosion to the coupon. Therefore, a method of improving the sealing ofthe coupon within its housing is needed.

Overall, there has not been available to date any device that providesthe improvements necessary for providing accurate exposure of couponsurface area, reducing metal galvanic corrosion, eliminating loss ofconductive material from within the housing of the device, and sealingand preventing leaks from the housing of the device.

SUMMARY

In one aspect cathodic protection devices are disclosed that includedual coupons constructed to improve the accuracy and reproducibility ofmeasurements of the corrosive nature of a particular environment withrespect to a specific type of material. Herein, the coupons included inthe cathodic protection device are disc-shaped and provide improvedaccurate exposure of a known surface area to the outside environment. Inone embodiment, the cathodic protection devices include a housingenclosing a reference cell and a conductive media, dual coupons on theexterior of the housing, and a hydrophilic porous member disposed in thehousing with one surface thereon in communication with the conductivemedia and another surface exposed to a surrounding environment toprovide measurements of the corrosive nature of the surroundingenvironment. The cathodic protection devices include the improvement ofa disc-shaped coupon within a coupon jack that has a generallypatch-sized body that includes a groove recessed into a surface thereof,and a wire lead directly attached to the disc-shaped coupon. The wirelead is sealed within the groove of the coupon jacket with a materialthat forms a watertight seal, which may also be an electrical insulator.In one embodiment, the material is an electrically insulating materialas well as forming the watertight seal. The material may be an epoxy, aplastic, an epoxy-plastic, or combinations thereof.

In another improved embodiment the cathodic protection devices includesome or all of the features described above and the improvement of ahydrophilic porous member. The hydrophilicity of the porous member drawsa sufficient amount of moisture therein and the presence of thismoisture prevents water from the outside environment from being able toflow through the porous member and into the housing, in particular intothe conductive media, and also prevents conductive media within thehousing unit from flowing out and into the surrounding environment. Thehydrophilic porous member is typically less porous than the porousceramic materials used in the prior art, thus affording the desiredobjective of preventing the penetration of conductive material containedwithin the housing unit from flowing out and into the outsideenvironment.

In another aspect, methods of assembling the coupon jacket assembly aredisclosed. The coupon jacket assembly is formed by providing one or moreblanks of discrete patch-sized units having a groove in a surfacethereof, placing the one or more blanks onto a jig having a tongueshaped to fit within the groove, heating the blanks to a sufficienttemperature to mold them into a preferred contour, and pressing a moldonto the blanks to impart the preferred contour to the blanks, referredto now as molded blanks. Thereafter, a pocket for holding a disc-shapedcoupon is formed in the molded blanks. The pocket includes an apertureconnecting the pocket to the groove. Next, the disc-shaped coupon with awire lead attached thereto has the wire lead threaded through thepocket, an epoxy-plastic welder applied to the inside surface of thepocket and, optionally to the disc-shaped coupon, and is pressed intothe pocket of the coupon jacket with the disc-shaped coupon seated inthe pocket and the wire lead lying in the groove. The groove isthereafter filled with material for forming a watertight seal and thecoupon assembly is mounted to the housing which will house a referencecell and a conductive media.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a photograph of a prior art cathodic protection device havingdual coupon references that are each an annular, cylindrical, metallicring.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of one embodiment of an improved cathodicprotection device having dual coupon references.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 2.

FIGS. 4A-4D are perspective views of one embodiment of a method offorming a coupon jacket for the embodiment of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a coupon-wireassembly.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view that illustrates the manner in which thecoupon-wire assembly of FIG. 5 is threaded through the aperture in thecoupon jacket of FIG. 4D after a pocket and aperture are formed therein.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the top side of the coupon jacketassembly formed from the method depicted in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the underside of the coupon jacketassembly formed from the method depicted in FIG. 6 prior to filling thecavity.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the underside of the coupon jacketassembly formed by the method depicted in FIG. 6 after the cavity hasbeen filled.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are a perspective top side view and a perspectivebottom side view, respectively, of an alternate embodiment of a couponjacket.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of inserting a porous member into an endcap.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description will illustrate the generalprinciples of the invention, examples of which are additionallyillustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, likereference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements.

In the past, there have been attempts to measure the conditions of anenvironment and the corrosivity of tanks and various types of operatingequipment through the use of coupon references located on the exteriorof an elongate housing of a cathodic protection device, such as shown inthe photograph of FIG. 1. However, these cathodic protection devicesfail to accurately measure the corrosive nature of the outsideenvironment because the measurements are impacted by flaws in thecathodic protection device itself. Annular coupons or long, narrowcoupons have been employed in prior art devices, which result ininaccurate surface area exposure because of gaps between the housingsurrounding the coupon and the coupon itself. The gap allows water orother fluid to leak within the housing and a larger surface area isexposed than intended. Additionally, the wire lead is connected bythreading directly to the annular coupon, which provides a connectionthat is highly susceptible to corrosion. These cathodic protectiondevices fail to provide complete isolation of the coupon connection,which contributes to the inaccuracy of the coupon readings.

FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of a partially disassembled prior artcathodic protection device having dual coupon references, generallydesignated 100, that suffers from the defects described above. The priorart cathodic protection device 100 includes the following components toprovide measurements of the corrosive nature of a particularenvironment: a housing 102 enclosing a reference cell and conductivematerial and sealed by end caps 104, one of which includes a ceramicplug 106, and having two coupon housings 108 that each enclose acylindrical coupon reference 110 seated around a portion of the housing102 (only one of which is shown because the photograph is of a partiallydisassembled device). This particular embodiment employs the use ofscrews to attach a wire lead to each cylindrical coupon reference 110 asdescribed above. Further, each cylindrical coupon 110 is not securelycontained within the coupon housing components 108 and as such, a gap111 is created between the coupon housing component 108 and an outsideedge of the cylindrical coupon 110. Undesirably, this gap 111 allowswater and other fluids to leak into the housing 108. The ceramic plug106 is made of a highly porous ceramic material, which results in theleakage of conductive material contained within the housing 102 into theoutside environment, which is undesirable. Further, the porosity of theceramic plug 106 allows for water from the outside environment to flowinto the elongate housing 118, which is also undesirable. The end caps104 are meant to seal the housing unit from leaks, however the end caps104 of this embodiment 100 fail to adequately do so. In particular, theend cap opposite the ceramic plug 106 is glued on in the field after theconductive material and reference cell are placed in the housing 102.The glue provides an inadequate seal thereby reducing the active life ofthe device.

Now referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, one embodiment of the improved cathodicprotection device, generally designated by reference number 112, moreaccurately measures the conditions of an environment through the use ofdual disc-shaped coupons 142 within coupon jackets 132 (or 132′ in FIGS.10A and 10B) mounted on the exterior of the elongate housing 118. Theimproved cathodic protection device 112 overcomes the deficiencies inthe prior art described above.

The elongate housing 118 may be made of a dielectric material, such asPVC (but is not limited thereto), and may be a cylindrical tube (but isnot limited thereto). The housing unit 118 has a first end 122 and asecond end 123. The first end 122 includes a first female adaptor 124and the second end 123 includes a second female adaptor 126. After thehousing unit 118 is filled with a reference electrode 129, shown in FIG.3, and a conductive media (not shown), the housing is sealed byinserting a first end cap 125 into the first female adaptor 124 and asecond end cap 131 into the second female adaptor 126. The first end cap125 includes a bore having a hydrophilic porous member 154 therein,which is more clearly seen in FIG. 11. The second end cap 131 includes abore 136 therethrough and has a wire or cable 130, from the referencecell 129, extending through the bore. The wire 130 may include a cordgrip 128 that is also received in the bore of the second end cap 131 toseal the wire 130 thereto with a watertight seal. While the embodimentin FIGS. 2 and 3 is shown to include female adaptors 124, 126, these arenot required. Instead, the elongate housing 118 may have an integralfirst end 122 and second end 123 that each form a connector or a seatfor receipt of the end caps 125, 131.

In one embodiment, the first end cap 125 and the second end cap 131 areboth threaded and the first female adaptor 124 and the second femaleadaptor 126 are threaded such that the first and second end caps areconnected by threading to the respective first and second femaleadaptors 124, 126. This type of connection is beneficial since it iseasy to assemble and it provides a watertight seal that is better thanthe seal in the prior art device shown in FIG. 1. The seal may also beenhanced by the addition of a water sealant tape or chemical substancesapplied to the threads. In another embodiment, the oppositeconfiguration is possible, i.e., the female adaptors 124, 126 may bethreaded into their respective end caps 125, 131.

The hydrophilic porous member 154 may be or include a ceramic materialhaving a flow rate of about 0.5 ml/hr/cm² to about 180 ml/hr/cm² atabout 1 atm of pressure. In operation, the hydrophilic porous memberdraws in moisture and holds it therein, which prevents the conductivemedia housed within the elongate housing 118 from seeping through thehydrophilic porous member. Additionally, excess moisture from thesurrounding environment is prevented from seeping into the housing andinto the conductive media. The hydrophilic porous member 154 providesthe cathodic protection device 112 with the added advantage that it canbe buried vertically in the ground (with the reference cell directedupward toward the surface of the ground and sky or downward oppositethereof) with no worry of leakage of the conductive material therefromor the seepage of water from the environment into the elongate housing118. In one embodiment, the hydrophilic porous member 154 is a disc ofporous ceramic, such as the ceramic material described above.

Still referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, but also to FIGS. 5-9, the couponjackets 132 each contain a disc-shaped coupon 142 and are preferablymounted on the exterior surface of the elongate housing 118 oriented180° apart from one another. Similarly, the coupon jacket 132′ in FIGS.10A and 10B can contain a disc-shaped coupon 142 and be mounted on anexterior surface of the elongate housing 118. Each disc-shaped coupon142 has a primary surface 143 exposed to the surrounding environment. Byreferring to the coupon as disc-shaped, there is no intention to limitthis to a circular shape even though a circular shape is illustrated inthe drawings. The disc-shaped coupon may be an oval, trapezoid, diamond,octagon, etc.

With reference to FIGS. 6-9, each coupon jacket 132, 132′ is a generallypatch-sized body 133 having a groove 138 in a surface thereof and apocket 150 recessed into the opposite surface thereof. A patch-sizedbody is one that is generally small relative to the overall outersurface area of the elongate housing 118 and does not cover a portion ofthe surface area that extends completely around a transversecross-sectional portion thereof. For instance, when the housing is acylindrical shape, the patch-sized body 133 is not a ring about thehousing. An aperture 151 connects the pocket 150 to the groove 138.During the methods of making the coupon jackets 132, 132′, discussedbelow, a shape is imparted to the underside 144 (best seen in FIGS. 8-9and 10B) thereof so that the underside 144 of the coupon jackets 132,132′ conforms to the exterior surface of the housing 118, in particularto the contour thereof. In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings,the housing 118 has a cylindrical exterior surface and the underside ofthe coupon jacket 132 and coupon jacket 132′ is an arc that can seatthereon. Each coupon jacket may also include one or more mounting holes140 extending through the patch-sized body 133, as seen in FIGS. 2-3 and6-9.

FIGS. 4A-D illustrate one method of forming the coupon jackets 132 ofFIGS. 6-9 to provide the coupon jackets with a contour that matches anexterior surface of the housing 118. As seen in FIG. 4A, a plurality ofblanks 127 are provided that may already include mounting holes 140 andare placed on jig 134 (also referred to herein as a mandrel fixture).The mandrel fixture 134 includes a tongue 135 and the blanks include agroove 138 that mates with the tongue 135. After the blanks 127 areattached thereto, the mandrel fixture 134 is placed into an oven, whichmay have been preheated, at a temperature for a period of time selectedto soften the blanks 127 so that they are moldable to the contour/shapeof the jig 134. In one embodiment, when the blanks are PVC, the blanks127 (on the jig 134) are placed in an oven having a temperature of about200° F. for about 30 minutes. Thereafter, as seen in FIGS. 4B and 4C, aforming tool 139 is placed on top of the blanks 127, while the blanksare still hot, and is pressed down thereon and held in that position,for example by clamps. The attached forming tool 139 is left on theblanks 127 during cooling, for example to room temperature. Thereafter,the forming tool 139 is removed, FIG. 4D, and the molded blanks 127′ areremoved from the jig 134.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 4A-D, the forming tool 139 provides a moldfor a curved structure to enable formation of coupon jackets 132 thatcan be seated on the cylindrical housing 118. Then, the molded blanks127′ are processed to form the pocket 150 for the disc-shaped coupon 142and the aperture 151 within the pocket 150 as shown in FIG. 6. Thepocket 150 and aperture 151 may be machined into the piece.Additionally, the portion of the molded blank 127′ that receives thepocket 150 may also be planed to have a planar surface 154 before orafter the pocket and aperture are formed therein.

In another embodiment, the coupon jacket may alternately be made bycutting a patch-sized component from a stock material and machining thepocket 150, the aperture 151, and the groove 138 therein simultaneouslyor sequentially. Machining is intended herein to encompass, cutting,etching, drilling, etc. The method also includes shaping the underside144 to a shape that conforms to an exterior surface of the elongate body118. For example, the coupon jacket 132′ in FIGS. 10A and 10B may be cutfrom a cylindrical rod of stock material and the pocket 150 aperture151, groove 138, and underside 144 may be machined therein.

A coupon-wire assembly 146 is illustrated in FIG. 5. The coupon-wireassembly 146 includes the disc-shaped coupon 142 having a coupon wirelead 120 directly connected thereto. The coupon wire lead 120 contains awire 148 soldered or brazed to the back surface 145 of the disc-shapedcoupon 142. This is beneficial because it eliminates the use of a screwto connect a wire to the coupon material, which if present is a knownpoint of failure because it is susceptible to corrosion.

FIG. 6 illustrates the pocket 150 and aperture 151 of the coupon jacket132 described above, which enables the insertion of the coupon-wireassembly 146 into the coupon jacket 132 so that the disc-shaped coupon142 can be seated in the pocket 150 as seen in FIG. 7. The wire lead120, once attached to the disc-shaped coupon 142, is threaded throughthe pocket 150 and through the aperture 151, and once through, thedisc-shaped coupon 142 is pressed into the pocket 150 thereby placingthe wire lead 120 into the groove 138 of the coupon jacket. Thedisc-shaped coupon 142 may be coated with glass tape prior to assemblywithin the coupon jacket 132. The back side 145 of the disc-shapedcoupon 142 is coated with a material for forming a watertight seal andalso acts as an insulator. The material may be an epoxy, a plastic, anepoxy-plastic, any other suitable insulating material, and combinationsthereof. The surface(s) of the pocket 150 may also be coated with thematerial for forming the watertight seal.

FIG. 7 illustrates the coupon-wire assembly 146 assembled within thecoupon jacket component 132. The disc-shaped coupon 142 is pressed intothe pocket 150 in the coupon jacket unit 132 and any excess material forforming a watertight seal is wiped away and/or pressed down into the gap153 around the edge of the coupon. A sufficient time is allotted for thematerial for forming a watertight seal to set or cure. In one embodimentabout 30 minutes was allotted.

Thereafter the coupon jacket is turned so that the underside 144 isfacing upward and the groove 138 is filled with a material for forming awatertight seal. FIG. 8 illustrates the underside 144 of the couponjacket unit 132 before the material for forming a watertight seal isplaced in the groove 138, and FIG. 9 is an illustration of after. Asseen in FIG. 8 the wire lead 120 lies in the groove 138, and FIG. 9shows that the wire lead 120 and wire 148 within the groove 138 iscompletely encapsulated by the material for forming a watertight seal.The material that forms the watertight seal is also an electricinsulator, as discussed above. The material for forming a watertightseal used to fill the groove 138 should be added in an amount largeenough to allow the aperture 151 of the pocket 150 to be overfilled sothat the exterior can be wiped and provide a smooth underside 144.Again, sufficient time is allotted for the material for forming thewatertight seal to set or cure. In one embodiment, about an hour wasallotted. This coupon jacket assembly may be attached to a mandrel, suchas a PVC pipe, and wrapped with a layer of double sided glass tape priorto the setting or curing phase. Once cured, the glass tape that wasoriginally placed over the exposed surface 143 of the disc-shaped coupon142 is removed.

Once the coupon-wire assembly 146 is mounted to the exterior surface ofthe elongate housing 118, the wire 148 can be wound and secured to thehousing until the housing is filled with the conductive media (notshown) and reference cell 129. Once the housing is fully assembled asshown in FIG. 1, the wires 148 from both coupon-wire assemblies 146 arerun along the outside of the elongate housing 118 and then along thereference cell wire 130. The wires 148 may be secured by tape, adhesive,clips, latches, cable ties and/or zip-ties to the elongate housing 118and/or the reference cell wire 130. Accordingly, there are threeseparate wires for connection of the cathodic protection device 112 to ajunction box and thereafter connected to an appropriate component in asystem being monitored and to a monitoring station having a datalogger,a computer, a network connection, or the like. As mentioned above, thecathodic protection device is intended to be buried underground.Typically, the device is buried at a location that places at least oneof the coupon-wire assemblies 146 generally close to the object to beprotected, such as a pipeline or tank. In one embodiment, at least oneof the coupon-wire assemblies 146 is approximately six inches from thepipeline or tank, which places the coupon 142 in about the sameelectrolytic, external environment as the pipeline or tank. Although itis not absolutely necessary, it is considered desirable to place thecoupons 142 relatively close to the pipeline or tank to achieve the mostaccurate measurements.

The coupon 142 is preferably made of the same type of metal as thepipeline or tank for the most accurate results. However, the coupon 142need only be made of a similar metal material as the pipeline or tank,and thus need not be the exact material to achieve accuratemeasurements. The coupon 142 is typically not coated with the sameprotective coating applied to the surface of the pipeline or tank. Dueto the electrical conduction through the coupon wire 120, at least oneof the coupons 142 is electrically connected to the pipeline or tank. Inthis manner, the coupon 142 is exposed to the same external environmentand receives about the same level of cathodic protection currents as thepipeline or tank.

Referring now to FIG. 11, an exploded view of the hydrophilic porousmember 154 and the first end cap 125 is provided. The hydrophilic porousmember 154 has an exposed surface 159 facing upward away from the firstend cap 125. This exposed surface 159 is masked with a layer of glasstape, which may be a single sided glass tape. Then, a bead of materialfor forming a watertight seal is applied to the seat 156 within the bore162 of the first end cap 125. The outer edge 158 of the hydrophilicporous member 154 is covered with material for forming the watertightseal and is pressed into the bore 162 onto the seat 156 so that thematerial for forming the watertight seal fills any space between thehydrophilic porous member 154 and the bore 162. Thereafter the glasstape mask is removed from the exposed surface 159 of the hydrophilicporous member 154.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cathodic protection device comprising: ahousing enclosing a reference cell and a conductive media; a couponassembly mounted to an exterior surface of the housing, the couponassembly comprising: a jacket defining a pocket in a first surfacethereof and defining a groove in an opposing second surface, the pockethaving an aperture opening into the groove; a coupon seated in thepocket; a wire seated in the groove; and a junction of the wire to thecoupon aligned with the aperture.
 2. The cathodic protection device ofclaim 1, wherein the jacket is generally patch-sized and the coupon isdisc-shaped.
 3. The cathodic protection device of claim 1, comprisingtwo coupon assemblies positioned generally facing opposite directions.4. The cathodic protection device of claim 1, wherein the exteriorsurface of the housing is cylindrical and the second surface of thecoupon assembly is shaped to conform to the exterior surface of thehousing.
 5. The cathodic protection device of claim 1, wherein thejunction is a direct connection of the wire to the disc-shaped coupon.6. The cathodic protection device of claim 1, further comprising amaterial for forming a watertight seal disposed between the disc-shapedcoupon and the pocket and filling the groove about the wire.
 7. Thecathodic protection device of claim 6, wherein the material for forminga watertight seal is an electrically insulating material.
 8. Thecathodic protection device of claim 1, wherein the portion of the firstsurface of the jacket defining the pocket has a planar surface.
 9. Thecathodic protection device of claim 1, further comprising a hydrophilicporous member disposed in the housing with a first major surface thereofin communication with the conductive media and a second major surfacethereof in communication with an external environment surrounding thecathodic protection device; wherein the hydrophilic porous memberprovides a pathway between the external environment and the conductivemedia and ultimately to the reference cell within the housing to measurethe corrosive nature of the external environment.
 10. The cathodicprotection device of claim 9, wherein the hydrophilic porous member hasa flow rate of about 0.5 ml/hr/cm² to about 180 ml/hr/cm² at about 1 atmof pressure.
 11. The cathodic protection device of claim 9, wherein thehydrophilic porous member includes a ceramic material.
 12. The cathodicprotection device of claim 9, wherein the hydrophilic porous memberholds an amount of moisture therein that prevents the conductive mediafrom seeping therethrough and prevents excess moisture from the externalenvironment from seeping therethrough into the conductive media.
 13. Thecathodic protection device of claim 9, wherein the hydrophilic porousmember is a disc of ceramic material.
 14. A method of making a couponassembly, the method comprising: providing a patch-sized blank; andmachining a pocket in a first surface of the blank, and a groove in asecond opposing surface of the blank, the pocket having an apertureopening into the groove; providing a coupon-wire assembly comprising awire portion and a disc-shaped coupon; threading the wire portion of thecoupon-wire assembly through the pocket and aperture; and seating thedisc-shaped coupon in the pocket and the wire portion in the groove. 15.The method of claim 14, further comprising applying a material forforming a watertight seal to the coupon-wire assembly and/or the pocketand groove before and/or after seating the disc-shaped coupon in thepocket and the wire portion in the groove.
 16. The method of claim 14,further comprising soldering or brazing the wire portion to thedisc-shaped coupon.
 17. The method of claim 14, further comprisingmachining a contour matable for mounting the coupon assembly to a deviceinto the second opposing surface.